Inhuman
by Tyrammafar
Summary: When it comes to killing Zerg,no one is better than Matthew Hunter.He has a lust for Zerg blood,and he seeks them wherever they go.But he never planned on the events of a dark night on an uncharted planet.The events that would change who he was...
1. Beginning

Matthew yelled loudly, smoke filling the room. The building had turned into an inferno, so hot even metal was melting away. He ran through a hallway and into a small room, but cried out in dismay when he saw the window was blocked. He gave up then, not knowing what to do. He sat down in the corner, hoping for a miracle, that he would be saved by someone. It was then he realized that miracles do happen.

A slim figure in a skintight black suit appeared at the doorway after a few minutes, the green glowing eyes framed by the hoses around the stranger's mask. A thin mist came from the mask, a hissing noise filling the air. The stranger saw him and ran to grab him and sling him over his shoulder. The stranger said nothing as he ran through the building, coming to another window. He raised his weapon and fired, the solid _slunk_ heralding a concussion that blew the wall clear apart. Matthew screamed as they both fell to the ground below.

The stranger stood, picking him up without saying a word as the building that had been his home collapsed. "Mommy!" Matthew cried. The stranger looked around quickly, ignoring his cries.

"Delta squad, come in." He said, looking at the inferno that had been Matthew's home. "Building destroyed, one survivor." He paused. "Delta?"

"Where's my mommy?" Matthew screamed, gripping the stranger's armored leg. The stranger didn't seem to notice, instead looking north to where an angry snarl came from beyond a hill. He looked down at Matthew.

"Hold this position." He ran off, and Matthew followed, not understanding what he wanted. As Matthew crested the hill with the black-suited stranger he screamed. A horrendous monster, the color of rust, was ripping at the corpses of several armored men, more monsters like it doing the same. The others were smaller and dog-like, while the first was large and snake-like, with twin scythes for limbs. It turned to the newcomers with a hiss.

Matthew watched in horror as they approached, noticing that the stranger had left. He screamed as on of the dog-creatures broke into a run, leaping at him…and then exploded with a sharp crack. It fell in a ruined pile at Matthew's feet as the rest were butchered by an unseen assailant. The last one, the snake-creature, hissed with rage, swinging wildly about. It roared as a hole appeared in its chest, and then it fell to the ground. The stranger appeared in the middle of the carnage and gore, watching Matthew as he dropped to the ground and screamed.

"Quiet!" The man said loudly. Matthew went silent, quaking in fear. For a moment he thought that he feared this man more than the monsters. "Delta five to Command. Squad down, I repeat, entire squad is down. The professor is dead, and so is his wife. One survivor, a boy, eight years-old, most likely their son." He paused. "Their home was completely burned. My squad has been ambushed by a group of Zerg." He paused again. "Understood."

"Where's mommy and daddy?" Matthew cried as the stranger pulled him to his feet. "Where are they? What happened?"

The stranger looked down at him, removing his mask to reveal a pale face with flaming-red hair.

He said the words that would stay with Matthew for the rest of his life, burned in his mind as if etched. The words that would drive him to his destiny, turning him into the man that all of the living beings in the universe would know by name.

"The Zerg. The Zerg took them from you, Matthew Hunter."

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------------ Twelve years later -------------

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Mathew 'Suicide' Hunter sat very still in the seat of the dropship, waiting for a chance to burn another Zerg. He ran his gloved hand through his brown hair, wondering what planet the creatures had decided to infest now. The others were Marines, armored monstrosities born for the bloody acts of the Terran people, born for war. But unlike these juggernauts, Matthew wasn't born to kill everything.

He was born to kill Zerg.

"Sixty seconds to touchdown, gentlemen!" The pilot yelled.

"Hey, what's with the lone wolf crap?" A Marine said, shifting his massive bulk to look down at his unarmored companion. Matthew said nothing, just like his temporary guardian had done. He was always a loner, ever since he had met the Ghost that had insisted on being called SG-7869, his designation number. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"When I rip out your throat, will you still be talking?" Matthew snapped. The man jerked back, banging his head on the side of the dropship's hull. "I thought not."

"Don't mess with him." The corporal in the squad said, checking his flame gear. "You never mess with Ghosts."

"He ain't a Ghost, Whiplash; he's just a civy that thinks he's up to fighting the Zerg!" Another Marine cried.

"Well, when he ends up killing you your family will owe me twenty bucks." Another said, chuckling.

"Cut the pillow talk, ladies!" Their sergeant yelled, bringing them to order. "Alright…" The dropship shuddered as it hit the dirt, the hatch opening to the blackened terrain of this unexplored planet. "Move, move, move!"

Matthew loaded a clip into his rifle, following the Marines onto the dark soil. The dropship lifting off. The squad would search this area for a good place for an outpost, then radio for the dropship.

If Matthew knew what would happen, he would have killed himself right then to avoid his fate.


	2. Massacre

**Next chapter will be longer, and much, much, **_**much **_**better. I just need to set up the story with these first chapters.**

**Whiplash, the Firebat, is the only black in the group, and very respected among them. Juts thought I'd mention what I couldn't earlier. **

Matthew sat by the fire that Whiplash had made, holding his chest. The right side, opposite his heart, ached horribly, as it did when the Zerg was looking for him. He hated having done such a thing as purposely infected himself with a Zerg parasite, but the Zerg would come to him and would fall into his trap. He didn't care if the Zerg knew his every move, so long as they came. The Marine who had been talking to him stood over him, frowning.

"Hey, you okay?" Matthew looked up at him angrily. "Hey, I'm just trying to help. You look like your in pain…something wrong?"

"Old wound…gets me every now and then." Matthew said quickly.

"Oh…that happens with my leg now and again." The armored man sat down on a rock, cracking it with his weight. "Um…sorry about that…on the dropship. I was wondering why you never say anything." Matthew just stared at him. "Sorry, man, just like to know why people do what they do." Mathew looked down at the black soil, still clutching his chest.

"My parents were killed by the Zerg." The Marine sighed.

"That's rough."

"I lived on base with the Ghost that saved me from the ruins of my home, and he taught me everything I know…when he wasn't off killing the Zerg. He was like a father to me…and then he got himself killed by that bitch, Kerrigan."

"Who?" Matthew looked up in surprise.

"You don't know who Kerrigan is?"

"Um…should I?"

"She's the Queen of Blades, the leader of the Zerg, the one who we're fighting." Now the other marines were listening. "You haven't heard about that?"

"Not really. We heard that the Zerg had a leader, but that's about it."

"Nevermind…" Matthew stood, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "I'll…I'll be back; need some room." He left the group, heading off into the rocky terrain surrounding the camp. He didn't need room; he needed to find the Zerg that was watching him. He looked around, trying to spot any overlords on the night air, or the familiar buzzing as they went about, driving their groups. He could take out an Ultralisk on his own, he knew how, and he doubted any group of Zerg would be able to kill him.

His chest ached more as he traveled further, the terrain becoming rockier. He knew there were Zerg here…but where? He finally found something that made his heart leap…in anticipation. Creep. The living substance that covered the terrain was instantly recognizable. He raised his wrist, clicking on the communicator.

"This is Hunter. Found some Creep, due east."

"Creep?" The voice came over the comm.

"Are you really that new to this?" Matthew hissed. "Creep means Zerg, always does. If there's Creep there's a Hive."

"We're on our way."

Within seconds Matthew heard the thumping of feet, the Marines appearing with suit lights blazing. "What's going on…holy fu-" Whiplash looked down at the living carpet and gulped. "Ugh…what the hell?!"

"This is the Creep, what the Zerg need to survive."

"We…none of us have ever fought Zerg before. We were in the simulations…but nothing like this." Matthew sighed.

"Alright…better teach you how it's done." Matthew stepped carefully onto the Creep, the living tissue moving beneath him and sending a message to the hive that he was there. "I suggest we move, Sergeant. In about five minutes this place will be covered in Zerg."

"How do you know?"

"Because they know we're here; they always know." The Marines followed him onto the Creep, making various sounds of disgust as they touched the living terrain. "Careful; they could be under the stuff."

"What? You mean they'll just pop out of the ground?" Whiplash laughed, the others joining him. They all went silent as Matthew turned to them with an angry scowl.

"Exactly." The Marines hadn't expected this. "They'll come out from under your feet by the hundreds, all wanting to taste your blood, and when they see you they'll keep charging no matter what pain you inflict. When you think they're dead they come back to life, when you think there's one there's a thousand, and when you think that the battle is over…they just keep coming." Matthew sighed. "Personal experience."

"God…how many do you think there are?"

"With Creep this mature…maybe a few hundred."

"What?! We can't go against that!" Matthew laughed.

"We can try…and you'll be surprised how easy these rifles put down a dozen Zerglings. One shot is all it takes for the little ones, and you have enough ammo to take out an entire hive." Matthew turned and continued to traverse the Creep, the Marines following closely. "It's when they take you by surprise that they get you. Just watch your backs and don't let the things scare you. They use fear to their advantage, and you never know what kind of trick their planning."

At this a small creature the size of a dog ran into their path, taking them by surprise. The Zergling snarled and ran away from them, and one of the Marines gave chase, shouting and firing his weapon wildly at it.

"You idiot, don't follow it; it's a …" Matthew stopped abruptly as the ground beneath the Marine fell through, and a gush of blood leapt up, the ground sealing again and leaving stained Creep behind. "…trap."

"What the fuck just happened?!" Whiplash screamed, looking around in terror. "What the fu-"

"Calm down, and don't act like morons!" The sergeant yelled. "Now, Corporal, take the front and keep your weapons ready; Jefferson, take the rear." The Marines moved around to set up a defense, loading their weapons and looking in the shadows, hoping the Zerg wouldn't come out. "Hunter, what happened to my soldier?"

"He was eaten alive by a Zerg, sir." Matthew said calmly. One of the Marines cried out and slammed the butt of his rifle down on the Creep.

"Damnit! Why the fu-"

"I said calm down, soldier!" The sergeant screamed. "Now, Hunter, what are we going to do? You've done this before…"

"I have…and I was always lucky and had a few armored friendlies around." Matthew looked to where the Marine had vanished into the ground, noting that the Creep had a scar. "He was probably eaten by a Zergling like that other one…hey, where'd it go?" They looked around, but there was no trace of the creature.

"Holy shit!" Jefferson yelled loudly and began firing, but the shots died off as he was ripped nearly in half by the missing Zergling.

"Fire! Fire you idiots!!" Bullets flew through the air, and now Matthew saw the other Zerg that had surrounded them. He raised his rifle towards a Hydralisk, yelling loudly, the memory of the creature of his childhood flashing in his eyes. The creature fell to the ground with a missing head, flailing. A Zergling was decimated by the crossfire, another slipping on its spilled organs and being burned alive by Whiplash.

A clever Hydralisk impaled a Marine and used him as a shield, nearing the Firebat and lashing out with its scythes. The explosion from the ruptured napalm canister knocked Matthew back, his vision flashing and his ears ringing. He hit a rock and fell face down on the Creep, a Zergling stepping on him to get at a Marine that had been knocked over by the blast.

_No… this can't be happening! _Matthew screamed in his mind. He blasted the leg off a Zergling and stabbed it in the skull with his knife, the blade breaking at the handle. A Hydralisk fell to his attack, more Zerglings becoming nothing more than tattered gore. There were only two marines left…him and the sergeant.

"Hunter, take this!" The man threw his radio to Hunter as a Zergling rammed him to the ground. He wrested the creature off of him, breaking its neck. "Retreat and call for evac, that's an order!"

"I can't leave you to die!"

"Go you moron, I'm-" He stopped abruptly as his head was torn from his shoulders by a Hydralisk.

"No, damnit!" Matthew screamed, raising his rifle as the Hydralisk turned to him. The creature fell to the ground with its chest blown apart, Zerglings converging on Matthew's position. Matthew caught sight of his ammo counter. He pulled the trigger and heard a sharp click, and no ammo meant he was now weaponless. He beat a Zergling's skull in with the butt of the weapon, and threw it at another to knock it into the flames of the napalm explosion. This was it…he would go down fighting…

All at once the Zerg turned and ran, leaving him in the carnage of the short battle. No, not a battle…a massacre. He had been helpless and the Zerg had left him. He picked up a chuck of debris, throwing it after a retreating Zergling.

"Get back here and kill me you filthy bastards!" He screamed, dropping to his knees. His entire squad…slain in a few bloody moments…and there was nothing he could do. "What the fuck is this?!" He turned to the bloody remains of his squad, looking for something. There it was…the short iron rod that had been on Whiplash's armor, carved with the strange symbols of his religion. Matthew couldn't believe it…he had thought he would like this new squad, and now what would have been his friends were dead.

He picked up the blacked bit of metal, reading the runes on it numbly. A life erased in the blink of an eye, a blinding explosion. Others dying in pain... their insides ripped out by the Zerg. Matthew hurled the bit of metal away, cursing and yelling incoherently.

He watched the flames die down and then ran, leaving the Creep. He noticed that it was withering at the edges…as if the Hive had just died. Why had the Zerg left him? He was helpless, vastly outnumbered…and they had just left, and now their Creep was vanishing as the Hive died. Maybe it was attacked and they decided to defend it instead of killing what wasn't a threat?

He looked at the radio, clicking it on. "This is Private First Class Hunter…squad down…I repeat, the squad is down." He waited, but there was nothing but static. "Requesting emergency evac." Still nothing. "This is Private First Class Hunter broadcasting on all channels, my squad has been wiped out by the Zerg…requesting immediate evac." Nothing at all. He dropped the radio on the ground, sitting down and looking around.

He was alone on an uncharted planet, abandoned by both the humans and the Zerg, weaponless and without food or water.

"I am so fucking screwed…"


	3. Forgotten

**This chapter includes a very bored soldier taunting his enemies for no reason other than he's bored. It's very long and drawn out, but read it anyway.**

The Creep had entirely withered away by the next morning, no trace of it left on the rocky earth. The carnage of the night's battle was covered in scavengers, all of them fighting over this unexpected meal. It made Matthew sick to look at his fallen comrades, and so he decided to at least explore the remains of the Zerg Hive before he starved to death. He traveled slowly through the rocky terrain, looking at the ground and thinking deeply. It was always when you were facing death that you stopped to consider life…

He had traveled a mile when he found the depressions in the ground, testament to the demonic structures that had once been there. There was no other sign that the Zerg had been there, other than melted rocks and eroding burrows. It was as if the Zerg had completely vanished into mist…

He looked around the barren expanse of flat land, wondering what had caused the Zerg to leave like this. Or, what had destroyed them so completely. He sighed and headed towards a large overhang, seeking shelter from the rain that he saw approaching from the north. He sat down, his back facing the rock. He had not noticed it before, but now he realized that this place was already occupied.

The Zergling sat by a large boulder, staring into space. Matthew jumped up with a wild cry and it slowly turned to look at him, eyes empty and filled with a void that seemed almost engulfing. He stepped closer, watching it warily, and waved his hand in front of it. It did absolutely nothing, merely staring at him as if he were some sort of apparition, like he didn't really exist. He knew what had happened. When the Zerg had pulled out they had left this thing alone, and now it had nothing to control it, and therefore no will at all. The Terrans had never had a chance to study the Zerg in this state, because they were almost never like this.

He would love to beat the Zergling to death with his bare hands, if it was possible, but he knew the first rule of survival; save energy. He had to conserve his strength in case the dropship did return…_if _it returned.

He sat down again, now ignoring the Zergling because he knew it wouldn't be a threat. He could kill it if he wanted and it wouldn't fight back, or he could save his energy and have it starve to death along with him. Even if it was a mindless thing, he couldn't help but feel a little pity for it.

"So you got abandoned just like me? All your superiors just leave you for dead?" It stared vacantly at him. "I thought so. They don't care for the grunts; they just don't want to bother with a single soldier. It's a waste of fuel and energy to come back for us." There was nothing for him to do but wait for death to come, and he picked op the Zergling by its neck, dropping it again. It hit the floor limply, like a sack of potatoes, unmoving and still staring into space. He kicked it in the side and it didn't react at all, doing absolutely nothing to protect itself.

"Well, looks like we're in the same sinking boat, little bastard." It stared up at him, lying limply on its side. "What? You can't do a thing to me without your precious Overlord, can you?" He soon tired of taunting the helpless Zerg and lay down against the rock wall, watching the rain clouds gather overhead. "I guess we're going to die here together, eh? Two blood enemies, abandoned by our own kind on some damned rock, with nothing to do but sit and twiddle our thumbs till we kick the bucket." He looked at the Zergling in cold amusement. "Oh, right; you have no thumbs. Too bad, I guess you just have to sit." It continued to just stare blankly at him, unmoving.

The rain began to fall, and Matthew was glad he was on high ground, because the ground below turned into thick black mud, perhaps feet deep. The drops hissed on the ground, acid rain that would burn his skin if he got out in it, and he was very glad he had decided to be under this overhang.

The Zergling, however, was halfway out in the rain, the drops doing nothing to its carapace due to the adaptations that were part of the Zerg race. Acid simply did nothing to them. Matthew watched it for a while, and it watched him, and he finally laid down to rest. It would be a long time before it stopped raining, and he had nothing to fear from the Zergling, as it had no will to do anything.

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---------------Some time later-----------

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Matthew woke with a startled jolt, looking around quickly. He had fallen asleep with a Zerg right next to him, and he jerked around to look at it, but it was still lying next to him, still watching him with that same blank expression. "You're worse than a Ghost." Matthew said to it, and it just stared back. "No emotion, no response no matter what you say, and you don't do anything useful. Just like a Ghost.

"Can't you…do something?" It blinked. "Well, you _did _do something…" He smiled slightly. The Zergling wasn't a very talkative companion, but it kept him from insanity. "You know, I really hate your guts." The Zergling did nothing to respond. "You know that I would gladly kill you right now, if I had a weapon?" Nothing. "And you should also know that if my guys come back I'll gut you myself." The Zergling still did nothing. "But you just don't care about anything, do you?

"You know, it would be a lot better if the rain would stop. Then I could chuck you into the mud down there, but you'd probably have something that would keep you afloat. You Zerg always have something…" He was getting bored now. "Can't you just…call for your guys to come get you? Something like that? I mean, I know they wouldn't come back to rescue just one Zergling, but you could at the least try to save yourself." Still nothing, and the Zergling seemed to be staring at him more intently than before.

"You're just going to sit there like a lemon?" Matthew asked it. "Why don't you just…die right there? You have nothing to live for, and neither do I." Matthew picked up one of the Zergling's limp legs, examining the claws. "You know, you could just kill me and then yourself to save us the misery of dying by starvation. But, of course, you can't feel misery." Matthew looked out at the sky as the rain stopped falling. "Well, there that goes. Maybe I should hurl myself into that mud pit down there, die early so I don't have to die of something painful." He pulled up the radio that his sergeant had given him, wondering why he had sacrificed himself.

"This is Private First Class Hunter, requesting emergency evac." He said into it. A burst of static answered him. "I am broadcasting on all channels, does anyone read me?" He jerked as he heard a strange crackling noise from the radio, then silence. "Say again, I do not read." There was nothing but static. He tossed the radio onto the ground. "Great, just great. I'm just going to sit here for a few days until I either die of thirst, hunger, or get eaten alive by a wild animal. And then you're going to be dead, because you can do nothing to take care of yourself…we are both screwed."

Matthew leapt up, scrabbling at the radio as it hissed. "Mother bird to squad, come in."

"I read you mother bird. This is Private Hunter, 738th exploratory, I need immediate evac!" He was breathing heavily. "Tough luck, kid." He said to the Zergling on the floor.

"Roger, read you loud and clear, I have you on the scope." The pilot broke off. "What happened?"

"Whole squad got waxed, and then the Zerg just left." He heard the pilot curse loudly. Matthew looked down at the Zergling, thinking. "Mother bird…you have room for one more?"

"Say again, I don't think I heard you right."

"I have captured a live, uninjured Zergling…might be a good chance to study it in its uncontrolled state."

"I will not let a live Zerg aboard my ship, Private." The pilot cried. "You can just go ahead and shoot it."

"I don't have a weapon." He picked up the limp Zergling and tucked it under his arm. "If it was dangerous, it would have killed me. It's one Zergling; it can't do a thing to us."

"…I'm coming down, but you better secure that thing nice and tight…I don't want it slitting our throats on the way back to the Valence." Matthew looked up to see the distinct shape of the dropship coming down to him, setting down on a mostly flat spot.

"You owe me one, Zerg…but you're going to be dissected pretty soon, and that's going to be payment enough for me." The Zergling didn't respond as he threw it through the open hatch, following it and strapping himself in. The dropship lifted off slowly, banking to shoot out of the planet's atmosphere. The pilot turned to look at him.

"Is it secure?"

"It's a damned sack of potatoes!" The pilot jerked, seeing a Zerg up close for the first time.

"Shit it's ugly!"

"Wait till you see it get dissected on board the Valence."

The dropship left the atmosphere and Matthew smiled at the sight of the battle cruiser. "I've been flying around the area since I dropped you, but I couldn't get a signal until I nearly on top of you." The pilot said, clicking on the comm. "T.T. Valefore to Valence, come in, requesting docking bay three to be cleared. Zerg specimen on board for study." The radio crackled…but there was no answer. "What the hell? It's fine on this side, I wonder what's…holy mother of Christ!"

Matthew released the straps around him and leapt up to the cockpit, eyes wide at the sight before him. The Battlecruiser was dark, no light coming from the portholes. And…it was covered in Creep. The Zerg had left the planet…and attacked the Valence.

"Holy…shit…we are so fucking screwed." Matthew muttered, looking on at the infested Battlecruiser.


End file.
